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Dec. 15, 1931. H. A. MULLETT ET AL FOOT CONTROLLED WASH FOUNTAIN 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Jan. 23, 1930 a/f f/ Mvy, M

l ATTORNEYS.

H. A. 4MULLETT ET AL 1,836,766

Dec. l5, 1931.

FooT coNTRoLLED wAsH FOUNTAIN Filed Jan. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lA TToRNEYs.

Patented Dec. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i HWARD AQ MULLETT AND HERMAN E. REINE, OF MILWAKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR-S 'TO BRADLEY WASHFOUNTAIN COMPANY, C F IILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORA- TION F WISCONSIN FOOT CGNTROLLED 'W'ASHFOUNTAIN Application filed January 23, 1930. Serial No. 422,789.

This invention relates to improvements in foot controlled washfount'ain of the sectional type.

Sanitary washfountains now in general use permit a number of persons to wash at the same time, and to accomplish this, a circular basin or receptacle of comparative-ly large diameter is provided with a fountain which discharges a circular spray of water into the receptacle. As the water is usually on at all times, whether in use or not, or the water for the entire fountain is turned on when in use, there is considerable waste of water. Furthermore in the hand controlled fountains it is necessary to turn the water on and off, and the users frequently forget to turn the water off after use, which causes waste.

It is one of the objects of the preseinL invention to overcome the above mentioned objectionable features and provide a washfountain in which the flow of water to sectional portions of the fountain is controlled by the foot of the individual user.

A further object of the invention is to pro.- vide a foot controlled washfcinitain in which the fountain 'is divided into a number of seg mental portions and each portion is independently controlled by a foot operated lever.

A further object of the invention is to provide a foot controlled Washfoun'tain which is of simple construction, is strong'and durable, and is well. adapted for the purpose described.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view the invention consists cf the improved foct controlled washfountain andv its and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all o f the views:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the foot controlled washfountain, the upper portion being shown in full line;

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view ,on a larger scale of the upper portion of the fountain;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view of a modified form of valve; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail View of a modiiied form of discharge nozzle.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a basin or receptacle, preferably of annular form, which is supported upon a tubular standard 6. The basin may be of any shape lor formed of any suitable material desired. A tubular supporting member 7 mounted on and extending upwardly from the central portion of the basin is provided adjacent the bottom portion of the basin with an outlet opening portion 7 which is connected to a discharge coupling 8 below the basin by a short coupling pipe 9. A discharge pipe 10 is connected to the lower portion of the discharge coupling and extends Vdownwardly therefrom.

The upper end ofthe tubular member 7 is connected to an annular fountain 11 which is provided with a circumferential line of jet or spray openings 12 for discharging water for washing purposes.

Hot and cold water supply pipes 13 and 14 are connected to the coupling 8 below the basin and extensions 13 and 14 thereof extend upwardly through the tubular member` and the fountain and at their upper ends are coupled to a hot and cold water mixing chamber 15 which is positioned 'above the fountain 11 and is provided with a controlling valve 16. Said valve 16 may be of any desirable -form for mixing and for closing off the temv tion 2O which divides the space between the,

other two portions to form an upper valve Vchamber 21 and lower segmental chambers 22,

the segmental chambers being formed by radial partitions 23.

The upper and lower fountain portions 18 and 19 are formed with flanged openings 24J vso to permit the pipes 13 and 14 to extend therethrough without coming in contact with the water in the fountain or to permit the water in the fountain to leak around the pipes 13 and 14.

Vertically moving valves 25 positioned in the valve chamber 21 open respectively into the segmental chambers 22 to independently control the flow of water from the valve chamber 'to the segmental chambers below.

Removable cap members 26 threaded into the upper fountain portion 19 permit the easy replacement of the valves 25 without separating the fountain portions.

The stems 25 of the valves extend downwardly through the segmental chambers and the discharge portion 18 of the fountain and are positioned to be engaged by the angular ends 26 of reciprocal rods 27 extending through a vertical guide tube 28. Said guide tube 28 extends centrally through the tubular supporting member 7 and the discharge coupling 8 and its upper end is formed with elongated slots 29 through which the angular ends 26 of the reciprocal rods extend to permit free vertical movement of said rods. The lower ends of the reciprocal rods are respectively, loosely, pivotally connected as at 30 to the inner ends `of horizontally extendin'g foot levers 31.- Said foot levers extend radially outwardly through openings 32 formed in the pedestal Vportion 6 of the washfountain and at their outer ends have laterally projecting extensions 31 for easy foot engagement. The foot levers are formed with downwardly opening bearing slots 33 to engage transverse pivot pins 34 positioned within the pedestal openings 32. The weight of the reciprocal rods is sufficient to hold the outer zends of the foot levers in their upper positions and permit the valves 25 to drop to closed positions. The pressure of the water will falso 'assist in closing and holding the valves in their closed position.

Nuts 35 threaded on the pipes 13 and 14 and bearing against the upper portion of the fountain l1 clamp the parts firmly in position. In the modified form shown in Fig. 6 the tubular valve portion 36 extends through the vsegmental chamber '22 and is threaded in the lower wall thereof and at its lower end is provided with a stuiiing nut 37 to form a Water tight connection around the projecting valve stem 25. A coiled spring 38 surrounds the valve stem and is interposed between the stuffing nut 37 :and cotter pin and washer 39 on thel lower end portion `of the valve stem yto yieldingly hold the valve in closed position.. The portion 36 of the valve within the segmental -chamber is formed with side openings 40 to permit the water to flow therethrough from the upper chamber 21.

In the modified form shown in Fig. '7 a rose `0r spray head 41 is used for each segment in lieu yof the line of spray openings.

While the fountain as shown is adapted for washing the faces and hands of the users, it is to be understood that the pedestal may be of less height to position the bowl closer to the floor to permit v'the use of the fountain for washing the feet of the user.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the foot controlled washfountain is of simple construction and is well adapted for the purpose described.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin accessible from all sides and having a downwardly extending discharge pipe, a tubular supporting member extending upwardly from the basin and having a discharge opening adjacent the basin, a segmental fountain mounted on the tubular supporting member for discharging jets of water into segmental portions of the basin, a single hot and cold water mixing chamber mounted centrally above and connected to the fountain, hot and cold water pipes extending upwardly through the tubular member and the fountain and connected to the mixing chamber, valves Within and controlling the flow of water through the segmental portions of the fountain, a guide tube extending upwardly within the center of the tubular member and having upper slotted portions, rods extending upwardly through said guide 'tube and having angular portions which exten)l through the slotted portions of said tube and engage the valves, and outwardly extending foot levers fulcrumed in the fountain and having their inner ends pivotally connected to the lower end portions of the rods for independently controlling the valves to discharge the ets of water into segmental portions of the basin.

2. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin, a fountain positioned above the basin and having a horizontal parti'tion dividing the fountain into an upper and a lower chamber, the lower chamber being divided into segmental portions and having `discharge openings for independently discharging jets of water into segmental portions of the basin, valves in the upper chamber and having stems which extend through and project below the lower chamber for independently controlling the flow of water from the upper chamber to the segmental chambers below, a tube extending through the basin, rods extending upwardly through the tube and having integral angular portions engageable with valve stems, and foot levers engaging the rods and extending outwardly from the fountain for independently controlling the fiow of the jets of wat-er to segmental portions of the basin.

3. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin, a fountain positioned above the basin and having a horizontal partition dividing the fountain into an upper and a lower chamber, the lower chamber being divided into segmental portions and having discharge openings for independently discharging jets of Water into segmental portions of the basin, valves in the upper chamber and having stems which extend through and project below the lower chamber for independently controlling the flow of water from the upper chamber to the segmental chambers below, a tube extending through the basin, rods extending upwardly through the tube and having integral angular portions engageable with valve stems, and foot levers pivotally connected at their inner ends to the rods and extending outwardly therefrom and having foot engaging portions at their outer ends, medial portions of the levers being fulcrumed in the fountain, and said levers independently controlling the valves to discharge jets of water into segmental portions of the basin.

d. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin, a tubular supporting member extending upwardly from the basin and having a discharge opening adjacent to the basin bottom, a fountain mounted upon said tubular member, means for admitting water to said fountain including valves 1ocated directly at said fountain, a guide tube mounted within said tubular member and forming a passage extending from said valves through the bottom of said tubular member, rods disposed within said guide tube and having upper integral angular portions cooperable with said valves to actuate the same, and means cooperable with the lower port-ions of said rods and operable by the foot of a user of the washfountain to actuate said valves.

5. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin, a tubular supporting member secured to and extending above and below said basin, said supporting member having a discharge opening communicating with the basin bottom, a fountainvmounted upon the upper end of said tubular member, means for admitting water to said fountain including valves located directly at said fountain, a guide tube mounted within the lowermost portion of said tubular member and forming a passage extending from said valves through the bottom of said tubular member, rods disposed within said guide tube and having upper integral angular portions extending outwardly through said guide tube and cooperating wit-h said valves to actuate the latter, and means cooperable with the lower portions of said rods and operable by the foot of a user of the washfountain to actuate said valves.

6. A foot controlled washfountain, comprising a wash basin, a tubular supportingV member extending upwardly from the basin and having a discharge opening adjacent to the basin bottom, a fountain carried by the in said guide tube and having upper integral angular portions slidable in slots in said guide tube and cooperable with said valves to actuate the same, and means cooperable with t-he lower portions of said rods and operable by the foot of a user of the washfountain to actuate said valves.

In testimony whereof, we affix our` signatures.

HOWARD A. MULLETT. HERMAN E. HEINE.

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